Barcelona rewards Raphinha's hot start with contract through 2030

Just a few months ago, Raphinha was the left winger who had shown flashes of promise without ever becoming a true fixture in the lineup. Today he is, flat out, the center forward holding up Barcelona. And the club just put numbers behind that trust: Barcelona has announced an extension of his contract through 2030, two years longer than his previous deal, which was set to run through 2028.

The decision didn't come out of nowhere. Raphinha, 29, is in the middle of a start to the season that borders on absurd: 19 goals in just 13 official matches, including a brace on Tuesday in a 3-0 win over Aston Villa in the Champions League. With numbers like that, it was only a matter of time before the club wanted to lock him down.

It's worth remembering how he got here. Last summer, Barca tried to sign Julian Alvarez, the Atletico Madrid forward, and couldn't get it done. With Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres gone, leaving an obvious hole up top, the club turned to the player it already had on hand: Raphinha, who had arrived from Leeds United in 2022 to play right wing. His first season under Xavi Hernandez raised more questions than answers, but everything changed once Hansi Flick took over. In 2024-25 he racked up 34 goals in 57 matches, and last season added another 21 in 33 games, always playing out on the left flank.

From winger to killer

With no backup number 9 on the roster during preseason, Flick made a call that would prove decisive: moving Raphinha into the middle of the attack, flanked by Anthony Gordon and Lamine Yamal. Before the league opener against Elche in August, the coach asked him point blank whether he felt comfortable there or would rather go back to the left. The Brazilian's answer was simple: happy to play through the middle.

He hasn't stopped since. He scored in seven of the team's first eight matches, and the only time he didn't find the net was against Levante, a game in which he handed out two assists in a 4-2 win. Before the last international break he strung together back to back hat tricks, against Racing de Santander and Sevilla, though an injury picked up with the Brazilian national team ruled him out of the next two matches. He returned as a starter in losses to PSG and Real Madrid, scoring in the Clasico, and wrapped it up with braces against Alaves and Aston Villa.

That scoring run has powered the start of a Barcelona side that has won 13 of its first 15 matches and travels to face Atletico Madrid on Sunday in a game that promises to be one of the season's biggest.